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A Letter From YYC Guild President

2020 was an exciting and unique year for Extra Lifers in Calgary and Southern Alberta. While local businesses, government offices, and people kept their distance to keep friends and family safe, Southern Albertans opened their hearts for the Alberta Children’s Hospital. In 2020, Albertans raised $207,895 for the Alberta Children’s Hospital. All of our fundraisers, community partners, and volunteers should feel proud of the hard work they’ve done!

For fundraisers, asking friends, family, coworkers, and viewers to donate money during such economic uncertainty is a sensitive topic. You have embodied the motto of “play games, heal kids” and reached out with the respect and sportsmanship that made donors feel comfortable with any amount they’ve donated.

Our Community Partners in 2020 have been pivotal in our success. I’d like to thank the Alberta ESports Association for the amount of volunteer work they put in to make Extra Life Rockies a success. A massive shout-out must go to Microsoft for their donation of Xbox consoles to the Alberta Children’s Hospital. And the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, which has always supported us and introduced us to BCI4Kids and its gaming division, BCI Games. I also want to thank the many streamers who came in to help with our game day event and getting our twitch channel to the affiliate level. And a special thanks to Sean Rooney and his family for their time and dedication to Extra Life, Albertan’s will always be Dominic Strong.

I want to thank all of our guild and game day volunteers — the countless number of tournament organizers, casters, moderators and hosts. You made our event special, unique and run so smoothly. I also thank our guild leadership team of Jason Montgomery, Ben Fleming, Jackie, and Jonathan for their feedback, input, criticism and their interaction with the gaming community at large through our many social media channels.

Finally, I want to thank Cody Harbidge. The guild president since 2018. This year Cody has stepped aside from the role of president to a regular volunteer. His work for Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation has been critical. Finding event spaces, organizing game day events, working with Corporate Sponsors, the Hospital Foundation, and Volunteers. Your work has not gone unnoticed.

2021 is going to be an exciting year. This year we’ve revamped our Discord server, released this website, and have already begun working with community partners for Extra Life Rockies 2021 and other fun events. These changes make it easier for Southern Albertans to find information on how Extra Life Calgary works with the Alberta Children’s Hospital, upcoming events to join, and volunteering.

I look forward to meeting more of our extra-life fundraisers through our Discord server. Always feel free to pop into our discord, say hello, or share your story about how the Alberta Children’s Hospital affected you.

Sincerely, Todd Willsie Extra Life Calgary

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